Vani Hari

But when you looked at the ingredients, they were coloring their products with artificial food dye. They were putting in preservatives and trans fats. Yes, they were starting with organic milk, but they were adding, you know, 30 more chemicals to the concoction that they put in the machines. And so I wrote about that and how duped I felt.

And it went so viral that the CEO of the company reached out to me, pulled the marketing off their stores and apologized. Wow. And that was my first taste of activism and my first taste of, oh my gosh, my voice can make a difference. And it was probably when Chick-fil-A invited me to their headquarters after I wrote an article called Chemical Filet or Chick-fil-A.

And it went so viral that the CEO of the company reached out to me, pulled the marketing off their stores and apologized. Wow. And that was my first taste of activism and my first taste of, oh my gosh, my voice can make a difference. And it was probably when Chick-fil-A invited me to their headquarters after I wrote an article called Chemical Filet or Chick-fil-A.

I showed the hundred ingredients that they have in their Chick-fil-A sandwich and how I thought they were healthier than going to McDonald's. But when I compared them to the McDonald's ingredients, they were virtually the same. And this really shocked people.

I showed the hundred ingredients that they have in their Chick-fil-A sandwich and how I thought they were healthier than going to McDonald's. But when I compared them to the McDonald's ingredients, they were virtually the same. And this really shocked people.

I mean, it went so viral that the executives at Chick-fil-A invited me to their headquarters to consult on their menu items on how to make their ingredients better. And when I was taking off work to go there to consult with them instead of consulting with banking institutions, I was like, okay, something got to give here. Like this is obviously way more impactful than what I'm doing at the banks.

I mean, it went so viral that the executives at Chick-fil-A invited me to their headquarters to consult on their menu items on how to make their ingredients better. And when I was taking off work to go there to consult with them instead of consulting with banking institutions, I was like, okay, something got to give here. Like this is obviously way more impactful than what I'm doing at the banks.

And so I ended up deciding to quit my job. And when I quit my job, I was not making a dime doing Food Babe. It was literally there as a passion project. So it was something that I had to really figure out. The beautiful thing that happened after I quit my job was I was able to spend 100% of my time researching the food industry. And the first thing that I did was I was an avid traveler.

And so I ended up deciding to quit my job. And when I quit my job, I was not making a dime doing Food Babe. It was literally there as a passion project. So it was something that I had to really figure out. The beautiful thing that happened after I quit my job was I was able to spend 100% of my time researching the food industry. And the first thing that I did was I was an avid traveler.

I love to travel. It's been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. And whenever I would go to Europe or another country, I'd always feel better. I felt I felt better. I liked the food better. It tasted better. And I was like, what's going on here? Like, why is it so different?

I love to travel. It's been a passion of mine since I was a little girl. And whenever I would go to Europe or another country, I'd always feel better. I felt I felt better. I liked the food better. It tasted better. And I was like, what's going on here? Like, why is it so different?

And so I started to compare products that we have here in the United States to products that they sell in other countries. But the exact same products. So like a Doritos package here in the United States versus a Doritos package in Europe. And I would compare the ingredients. And I did this large experiment. and I think the title is something like how US companies are exploiting Americans.

And so I started to compare products that we have here in the United States to products that they sell in other countries. But the exact same products. So like a Doritos package here in the United States versus a Doritos package in Europe. And I would compare the ingredients. And I did this large experiment. and I think the title is something like how US companies are exploiting Americans.

And I showed this stark differences between the same product that's being sold here and in other countries and how in other countries they're using better and safer ingredients. And while here they're using man-made chemical additives. And that side-by-side comparison went so viral that it was an opportunity to finally say, you know what, we need to hold the food companies accountable for this.

And I showed this stark differences between the same product that's being sold here and in other countries and how in other countries they're using better and safer ingredients. And while here they're using man-made chemical additives. And that side-by-side comparison went so viral that it was an opportunity to finally say, you know what, we need to hold the food companies accountable for this.

You know, one of the examples in that investigation was Quaker Oats. Here in the United States, Quaker Oats was a strawberry Quaker oak pack had dyed apple pieces to make it strawberry, dyed with a red 40, an artificial food dye linked to hyperactivity in children and can be contaminated with carcinogens. But in Europe, they're using real strawberries.

You know, one of the examples in that investigation was Quaker Oats. Here in the United States, Quaker Oats was a strawberry Quaker oak pack had dyed apple pieces to make it strawberry, dyed with a red 40, an artificial food dye linked to hyperactivity in children and can be contaminated with carcinogens. But in Europe, they're using real strawberries.

And, you know, that product, Quaker quickly got onto that and that product doesn't exist anymore, thankfully. But it was... Something that I just couldn't believe the stark differences. And so I decided to take on one of the largest food companies in the world, which was Kraft at the time. And they were serving little children mac and cheese with artificial food dyes, yellow five and yellow six.

And, you know, that product, Quaker quickly got onto that and that product doesn't exist anymore, thankfully. But it was... Something that I just couldn't believe the stark differences. And so I decided to take on one of the largest food companies in the world, which was Kraft at the time. And they were serving little children mac and cheese with artificial food dyes, yellow five and yellow six.

While in Europe, they're using paprika and beta carotene. Wow. And, you know, it was a viral petition. It was so exciting. For the first time, we were on national TV. It gained a lot of steam, like 270,000 signatures very quickly. And on April 1st, it wasn't Happy Fool's Day for Kraft that day because I took the petition to their headquarters and I demanded a meeting. And they sat down with me.